This invention relates to receptacles for contaminated wastes, particularly contaminated liquid medical wastes.
Receptacles for contaminated liquid medical wastes desirably are unobtrusively positioned, yet readily accessible, within the theater of operations for a given medical procedure. They further preferably are releasably anchored during the time period when liquid medical wastes are to be introduced into the receptacle, are adapted for easy and certain introduction of the wastes into the receptacle without fear of inadvertent dispersal of contaminated liquid waste into the theater of operation of the medical personnel, are provided with means for leak-proof closure for disposal, are fully incineratable for disposal without escape of the wastes from the container, and are relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Known prior art receptacles fail to provide one or more of these desirable features. One of the more important failures of the prior art receptacles for liquid medical wastes relates to the function of introduction of the liquid waste into the receptacle. In this respect, it is noted that in most medical procedures, there is a degree of urgency to complete the treatment, almost irrespective of the nature of the injury or medical condition being treated. This factor leads to hurried movements, and disposal of liquid medical waste presents one of the more problematic aspects of safety to the medical personnel and/or the patient. More specifically, much of the liquid medical waste generated during a medical procedure is collected or accumulated in a syringe, and in some instances the same syringe is used to collect multiple volumes of liquid from a patient. Emptying the liquid from the syringe between collections is by necessity to be accomplished quickly. This factor can lead to splatter of liquid being expelled from the syringe, either from the syringe not being properly inserted into a receptacle for the liquid or splatter from the receptacle itself.
After the receptacle is filled to its capacity with liquid waste, it becomes necessary that the receptacle be sealed fluid-tight for removal from the theater of operations and subsequent disposal. Recalling that desirably the receptacle is nonobtrusive to the activities of the medical personnel, to this end liquid waste receptacles are designed to be relatively small. In this regard, it is not uncommon that more than one receptacle is required to contain the volume of liquid waste from a given procedure, thereby making it important that the sealing of the filled receptacle not only be certain, but that it be accomplished with a minimum of effort and in the shortest time possible.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle for liquid medical wastes which is inexpensive to manufacture and which provides for ready receipt therein of the liquid wastes and ultimate safe disposal of the waste-containing receptacle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a receptacle for liquid medical wastes which minimizes the likelihood of splatter of the liquid wastes in the course of introduction of the liquid waste into the receptacle and during subsequent handling of the receptacle.